Steralising bottles / cups for water at 6 months

[sparkler]

Do cups and bottles for water need to be steralised for a 6 month old baby?

:confused: What about bowls and spoons too. Is washing them in warm soapy water enough?

[Butterfliez]

I sterilise spoons, bowls and cups. It just makes me feel better. Apparently when they are crawling and putting everything in their mouths, you don't need to sterilise anymore. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to germs, so it puts my mind at ease. :o

[spoon]

They say to do it until baby is 12 months old.

[punkbaby]

i used to boil all my utensils and bowls in a pot of hot water, as they were on the boob i ddnt really need to sterilise cups or bottles so to me this was sufficient and saved buying a heap of stuff to sterlise things too i stuck to doing this till they were around 12 months too :D

[Toffee apple]

If I use bottles I only use HOT soapy water, & rinse in hot water, I think that is what they reccomend now.

[ButterflyMama]

My DD is almost 7 months and I haven't bothered sterilizing any of her eating utensils for the last month. I don't see the point now as she is crawling.

[Noah_and_Elijah]

If I use bottles I only use HOT soapy water, & rinse in hot water, I think that is what they reccomend now.

:iagree:

I haven't sterilised anything since my DS was born. I only ever wash in HOT soapy water and then rinse in HOT water. I have to use gloves the water is so hot but it's been fine for us.

It was the recommendation at our hospital too.

[spoon]

Right. I am going to stop now then. I run all my stuff through a very hot dishwasher which i reckon would be hotter than boiling anyway.

[sparkler]

Cheers everyone :thumbsup:

I started solids yesterday and steralised everything, but I will now just wash in warm water and then rinse them over with hot water from the kettle.

Thanks!

[mum2bubba]

I have stopped sterlizing bottles etc. I just make sure they are washed thoroughly in hot soapy water. I stopped sterilizing for both kids around age 3 months.

[Clareabell]

I just found this info on another site which may help ???


All babies are vulnerable to the germs that cause diarrhoea (http://www.babycenter.com.au/baby/health/diarrhoea/) and vomiting (http://www.babycenter.com.au/baby/health/vomiting/), and so it is best to continue sterilising bottles and teats (and breast pump equipment) until your baby is one year old and has built up more resistance to bacteria generally. The recommended age for starting solids (http://www.babycenter.com.au/baby/startingsolids/introducing/) is now six months, and bowls, plates and spoons can generally be cleaned using your usual washing-up method from this age.

Cleaning your baby's bottles and teats in a dishwasher will not always heat them to the right temperature to kill off all known bugs, so it's generally still advisable to sterilise after washing. If you do want to rely on your dishwasher alone, it needs to be run on a hot programme at a minimum temperature of 80 degrees centigrade. The bottles then need be filled with feed straight away as the dishwasher will not leave them in a completely sterile condition.

It may seem pointless to sterilise feeding equipment when your baby is crawling around the floor and putting all sorts of things in his mouth, but the bugs that stick to milk curds can be dangerous. Your baby's immune system will grow stronger into the second year and he'll be able to combat infections more easily.


I still sterilize DS bottles, teats and sipper cups in microwave but only wash his eating utensils in hot soapy water....

[sparkler]

Thanks Clareabel :wave:

I will continue to steralise the bottles I use for expressed breast milk.

[lizzymcfizzy]

thankd clareabel i was wondering why bottles have to be sterile but not bowls and spoons.

[Butterfliez]

Thanks for that, great info! :thumbsup:

[Harlequin]

I did the hot water and soap thing almost from birth too.

[lil miss]

my dd is 4 months and my aunty (who is a midwife) saw me sterilising her bottles. She laughed and said that i didn't really need to. as long as they are rinsed before use, it is fine to just wash them in detergent and warm water before doing the rest of the dishes.

hope that helps :sunshine:

[pookiesossige]

When Ronan was six months of age I was still sterilising his bottles (did until 10-12 months from memory) in a cheap plastic microwave steriliser from Target (it was fantastic, by the way).

I just washed his cups and spoons in the dishwasher.

I figured the germs that get into milky bottles and teats would be worse then the ones on a spoon that just had fruit on it or something.